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Boston Jerk Centre As you drive eastward along the north coast approaching Boston Bay from Port Antonio, a fragrant aroma wafts across the road just yards before you catch the first glimpse of the transparent turquoise waters of Boston Beach. Follow the scent to the Boston jerk centre and prepare your taste buds for an authentic Jamaican treat. Boston is the undisputed home of jerk. This is where it happened and is still happening. Horace Carter and his aunt Evelyn operate a jerk hut on this property, which has been in the family since the time of Horace’s great-grandfather, James Allen. No one remembers precise dates but Horace certainly remembers his grandfather Vincent Allen making his living on this same spot. Theirs is a sort of "community hut" - they take turns with other cooks who run the business on some days of the week. Horace jerks any kind of meat. Fresh fish wrapped in aluminum foil and generously seasoned with his own special jerk sauce (his grandfather’s recipe) and cooked on a platform of slender branches about two feet above red hot ashes. Or lobster, when it is in season, precooked then rubbed with the same sauce for the final cooking while the flavour soaks in. Mickey Burke is another expert in jerk cooking, who operates the hut right next door, on the same property. He, too, learnt the art directly from his grandfather, Olga Bignall. " I born and see my grandfather jerking right here", says Mickey. That’s how the tradition is passed on through the generations. Mickey has taught his younger brother and his 13 year-old son is fast becoming a master of the trade. All learning is a hands-on experience in the school of jerk, from the combining of ingredients for the sauce, to choosing the particular types of wood for the stove – Mickey’s choice is sweetwood or maidenplum.One taste of his fare explains why Caribbean people have little respect for dishes labeled "spicy" in North American restaurants. But there’s no need to worry, because there’s always festival and hard dough bread and breadfruit to counteract the pepper, and just behind the jerk pit, a little bar stocked with cold drinks to wash everything down. Mickey’s cousin, Raymond Marshall, better known as Tarie, sells his secret concoction of jerk sauce by the bottle. To the untrained eye, it just looks like peppers liquefied in a blender, but there’s a lot more to jerk than pepper, and each jerk chef creates a unique combination of pimento, wild cinnamon, nutmeg and many other spices to produce the truly Jamaican flavour of Boston jerk. Source: Gracefoods.com |
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